Consumer construction contract, construction contract not executed - compensation for damages?

2023-03-17 17:37:28

Didn't you respond to the deadlines?

Yes, I did respond and informed that we did not find a plot of land and therefore canceled the contract. There was never any response to that.

When I informed the lawyer that we had canceled the contract, the only reply was: a cancellation on your part also leads to a settlement according to § 648 of the German Construction Code and thus to the payment claim asserted with the letter dated 3/2....

2023-03-17 17:38:43

Not the letter, the original contract. The letter is initially irrelevant for clarification

Yes, I will try to share the relevant passages from the contract. It has over 50 pages.

2023-03-17 17:46:25

The total amount of the claims is certainly exaggerated, but you will hardly get out of this situation without any. You cannot seriously expect to sign a contract, then say "No" five times when the contracting party proposes a plot of land, and then be released from the contract by simply "doing nothing." As long as the contract exists, the client can come around at any time and say, "I found a plot of land, please build the house there promptly." That means they have to "block" a certain capacity for the contracts they still have to fulfill. This may seem strange to some, and in practice, certainly no craftsman will be "blocked" for two years. But the contractor could take other orders during that time, with new prices. That means he is realistically losing profit if you think you can end the contract by sitting it out. That’s an explanation of why, even if not 60,000 EUR, 10-15% of the contract amount as damages is certainly reasonable. PS: Let’s consider the extreme case where 10 out of 20 people drop out per year in this way. Then basically, the business can be shut down if no damages are claimed.

As I wrote at the beginning, we were of course completely naive to trust the representative’s statements that we would not be taking any risks and would not suffer any financial disadvantages if we did not find a plot of land... If we had had the contract reviewed, we would have understood the consequences and never would have signed it. As I said, we trusted the statements. This is now obviously coming back to bite us and we do not expect to get out of this for nothing... But the total amount is already very high :(

2023-03-17 17:47:23

I think it really depends on the contract. If the exclusive property mediation was truly part of it and the contractor/reliable contractor only offered junk properties that were not even exclusively secured, then he also did not fulfill his contractual duties. Surely it was a mistake not to communicate any further there, and yes, I also consider legal advice advisable.

The contract will neither mention "exclusive" mediation, nor will the potential builders have documented in a legally binding way what was offered to them ;)

Who even defines "exclusive"? And how do you prove 2.5 years later that it was not "exclusive"?

Well...

2023-03-17 17:49:53

As I said, we trusted the statements. That is now obviously coming back to bite us, and we don't expect to get out of this for nothing... But the total amount is indeed very high :(

Yes, the amount is certainly too high. The general contractor is acting on the motto "I'll give it a try, maybe I'll get it." But you will definitely have to prepare for 10-15%. And since you won't win the case but it will come to a settlement, you will also have to pay your own legal fees. Unfortunately, you have to expect that.

Have you properly documented which properties were offered to you and that those exact ones were also listed one-to-one on well-known portals?

2023-03-17 17:52:01

Yes, the amount is certainly too high. The general contractor is acting on the motto "I'll give it a try, maybe I'll get it."
But you will definitely have to prepare for 10-15%. And since you will not win the case but rather reach a settlement, you will also have to bear your own legal costs.
Unfortunately, you have to expect that.

Yes, we have already prepared for that...

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Consumer construction contract, construction contract not executed - compensation for damages?

Adriano273

Adriano273

Adriano273

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